Don't ever try to get between a struggling Chamorro mother and the Blessed Mother. This is what keeps her sane and surviving. The Mother of Jesus is a mirror of all she struggles with. If Mary could do it, so can she.
There are many traditional hymns to the Sorrowful Mother, La Dolorosa, whose feast is today, September 15. But this hymn is one of the most loved.
MI PINITE HAO MARIA
Mi pinite hao Maria / sa' sinapet nu i taotao
(Mary, you are full of sorrow / because the people made you suffer)
Magof yo, Nåna, sumaonao / guennao gi lago'-mo siha.
(I am happy, Mother, to join you / there in your tears.)
I pinite muna' tånges / si Jesus gi trongkon håyo
(Sorrow made Jesus cry / on a tree of wood)
sen mahålang gi fion-ña / i Nanå-ña na guaiyayon
(despondent by His side / was His lovable Mother)
Maila' nihi ta fangasao / guennao gi piniten-ñiha.
(Come let us weep / for their sorrows.)
Hågo metgot na palao'an / muna' metgot si Jesus
(You, strong woman / gave strength to Jesus)
annai måtai gi me'na-mo / ma atåne gi kilu'us
(when He died before you / nailed to the cross)
Hame lokkue' in na'e hao / ni minagof-måme siha.
(We, too, give you / our joys.)
I pinite as Maria / ha tohgiye i Lahi-ña
(The sorrowful Mary / braced up her Son)
ti ha hulat kumuentuse / sa' mahålang i anti-ña
(she was not able to speak to Him / for her soul was downcast)
Båsta, Nåna, de kumasao / nu i isao-måme siha.
(Enough, Mother, of crying / over our sins.)
The Songao family in Rota celebrate that novena every year. It started with my grandfather's sister Encarnacion Mendiola Mangloña-Songao, b.1894, and her descendants have made it a tradition to do the novena every year.
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